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Post by ADH45258 on Aug 19, 2022 15:45:13 GMT
I remember seeing them on the 16's TEHs. The amount of diesel buses still running is luckily still high and it's weird to think there will be an age of enthusiasts who see diesel buses as a part of history. The only routes I can think of that have used diesels in the Central area recently are 170 and 476 (obviously) and odd workings on the 18, 44 and 91. 134 also but that was only because of the Metrodecker fire. Am I missing any? Correct the only Diesel operated routes in Central London are the 170 & 476 both operated by GAL. The 476 is up for tender later this year so I assume the buses will be changed. Diesel buses will certainly be a part of history for me as growing up with them. On another note, only a handful of night bus routes now use Diesels. There's also the 394 and 452
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Post by yunus on Aug 19, 2022 15:52:24 GMT
Correct the only Diesel operated routes in Central London are the 170 & 476 both operated by GAL. The 476 is up for tender later this year so I assume the buses will be changed. Diesel buses will certainly be a part of history for me as growing up with them. On another note, only a handful of night bus routes now use Diesels. There's also the 394 and 452 Oh yes totally forgot about the 394! I thought the 452 is allocated Hybrids?
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Post by capitalomnibus on Aug 19, 2022 22:52:31 GMT
It is one of the things I hate and annoys me. I cannot see the reason why people press them like a 5 year old school kid. It peeed me off when I drove buses and even more when I ride it and the bell pack unit is near me. Wright bus ones are the worst for noise. It only shows me the stupidity and intellect of the person when they constantly ring it. I totally agree with this especially when you have a VH and the bell is louder than normal. Had to ask a passenger once, would u appreciate it if a delivery driver came to your house and kept ringing your doorbell 5, 6, 7, 8 times? What's more is the bell is so loud and the stopping sign comes up too. Some years ago I nearly had an accident due to constant bell ringing, when I looked to see what was happening as I thought something was wrong, and then I nearly hit another vehicle had to slam on the brakes.
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Post by vjaska on Aug 20, 2022 1:29:21 GMT
There's also the 394 and 452 Oh yes totally forgot about the 394! I thought the 452 is allocated Hybrids? The 452 has a part hybrid allocation and I wouldn't really count Knightsbridge & Kensington as Central London either. Same with Islington & the 394
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Post by LK65EBO on Aug 20, 2022 12:00:54 GMT
Was on Metroline VWH2266 (LK17CZO) on route 90 this morning. As the driver approached the bus stop in Feltham there was a large crowd waiting for the bus (probably because of RATP strikes). The driver saw a blind man waiting at the bus stop and stopped closer to him. He then proceeded to get out of his cab, guided the man onto the bus first before any other passenger and also guided him to a seat. The blind man told the driver what stop he wanted to get off at but I don't think he heard the announcer as on VWHs it isn't that loud. The driver got out of his cab again at his stop and guided him off the bus. I rarely see any positive things from drivers these days so it was nice to see this for a change.
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Post by Volvo on Aug 20, 2022 21:25:44 GMT
I totally agree with this especially when you have a VH and the bell is louder than normal. Had to ask a passenger once, would u appreciate it if a delivery driver came to your house and kept ringing your doorbell 5, 6, 7, 8 times? What's more is the bell is so loud and the stopping sign comes up too. Some years ago I nearly had an accident due to constant bell ringing, when I looked to see what was happening as I thought something was wrong, and then I nearly hit another vehicle had to slam on the brakes. I can sympathize with you as you do tend to look to see why the bell keeps being rung.
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Post by george on Aug 22, 2022 10:34:44 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two.
1. 481 being awarded double deckers
2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10
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Post by DT 11 on Aug 22, 2022 10:49:13 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two. 1. 481 being awarded double deckers 2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10 5 15/N15 115 awarded to Blue Triangle and it was at 5 months notice.
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Post by george on Aug 22, 2022 10:58:00 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two. 1. 481 being awarded double deckers 2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10 5 15/N15 115 awarded to Blue Triangle and it was at 5 months notice. Yes I thought this one would be mentioned also same tender it was announced the 18 would go to RATP. Out of interest what do you mean it was at 5 months notice?
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Post by vjaska on Aug 22, 2022 11:34:45 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two. 1. 481 being awarded double deckers 2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10 UNO entering the market and the E10 going to Arriva, everything else is personally not surprising to me
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 22, 2022 12:47:03 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two. 1. 481 being awarded double deckers 2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10 UNO entering the market and the E10 going to Arriva, everything else is personally not surprising to me UNO winning the 692/699 school routes, using the ex-Metroline BYD prototypes, certainly came out of left-field. Wasn't some of the seating reconfigured as 3+2 to increase the capacity?
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Post by WH241 on Aug 22, 2022 19:31:59 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two. 1. 481 being awarded double deckers 2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10 For me it was the 25,26 and 30 going to First Capital in 2011. That was a huge blow for Stagecoach.
More recently I was surprised when the 173 was lost by DX.
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Post by yunus on Aug 23, 2022 13:47:25 GMT
What is everyones favourite Hybrid bus out of curosity?
I'm mainly a fan of the Parellel version, would have to say my fave is B5LH. As they form the allocation on the 113 and love the sound they make combined with the electric motor & smaller ICE.
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Post by yunus on Aug 23, 2022 13:52:11 GMT
Morning to all, Bit of a memory lane rant - who remembers the "another red bus going green for London"? Time flies for sure, I never thought that there would be so many Hybrid buses & the Electrics are now increasing. Just a few years ago, conventional Diesel buses were everywhere and of course in Central London. Read elsewhere as I am researching that it was planned that from 2012 only Hybrid buses would be ordered. Anyone know why that was dropped, along with the SD Hybrid buses being withdrawn? I can certainly see the London Bus Industry changing rapidly in the future. Time will tell. Will be sad seeing Diesel buses depart but it's reality. Hope everyone can get around as quick as possible with the strikes. From memory, it was found that hybrids saved fuel about 20-30%, but it varied a lot with the route, the more they hung about, or slowed and restarted at traffic lights the better the savings were. As the hybrid cost premium fell to nearer £110k as production ramped up, it was found the cost was recovered in fuel savings over about 6-9 years. But in the early days they were not that reliable, until the manufacturers improved them and sorted out some troublesome parts and improved the control software. About 2012 buses were roughly £120k for single decks, £200k for double decks, with a premium of about £130k for hybrid About the first 100 hybrids, including the 50-60 introduced 2009, were all subsidised by Government green bus funds. Only when they got them reliable enough did TfL insist on hybrids, initially for buses in central zone. It was about 2014 when serious numbers went into service. It all then got overtaken by low emission corridors and new hybrid buses started to get moved to these by swapping around fleets. Regarding the single decks, they never really got developed, so were plagued by the less reliable hybrid kit. Quite simply they tended to be used on less congested routes in the suburbs, so the fuel savings were less, and it was going to be 15-20 years before saved enough fuel to cover the extra capital cost. So just made no sense to have full hybrid single decks. Later on some other fuel saving ideas were developed. I think there are now about 2100 diesel single decks, but diesel double decks are rapidly falling and down to about 1900 buses 1,900 DD Diesel buses wow that's a huge decrease! With Hybrid becoming spare as a result of PVR cuts the figures will rapidly continue falling. Quite sad but everything changes, will travel when free as much as I can. Would have been nice to ride one into Central London but they are not exempt due to the ULEZ (as we know). Personally hoping to catch one on the 340, with a bit of luck!
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Post by M1104 on Aug 23, 2022 14:32:28 GMT
What tender result took you by surprise the most? For me I got two. 1. 481 being awarded double deckers 2. Arriva (Tellings Golden Miller) winning the E10 159 award to Abellio 200 award ammended to electrics deckers
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